Chapter 799: The Final Battle of Brussels III

Chapter 800 Decisive Battle of Brussels III

Joseph used the back slope + thin red line tactics invented by the Duke of Wellington in history.

Oh, now it should be called the thin white line tactics-the French army's uniforms are white, and the naming rights of this tactic have been owned by France.

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In fact, Joseph's troops deployed on the front were less than 14,000, and the troops they deployed were not regular battle lines, at most they could only be called horizontal columns.

A large number of two rows of 100 to 150 meters were arranged at the top of the slope in a staggered manner.

There was a distance of about 10 meters between different horizontal columns, so a very wide battlefield could be covered with limited troops.

Count Karl Kreut of Prussia thought that his attack position had exceeded the end of the French defense line and could outflank the French flanks, but in fact, even if his troops extended 100 meters to the west, there were still French columns there.

Moreover, according to the requirements of the back slope tactics, there was a skirmisher group on each wing of the column, and there were cavalry at a farther distance.

If you want to compete in the length of the battle line, the currently commonly used infantry line plus skirmisher tactics are just a younger brother in front of the "thin white line".

As for the firepower density, the Duke of Wellington has done repeated tests. In the case of occupying high ground, two rows of horizontal columns are enough, and the width of the battle line is the key.

As long as the battle line is wider than the opponent's, a higher firepower density can be exerted.

If Joseph is more radical, he can even let the two wings bend inward at this time to outflank the British, Prussian and Austrian coalition forces.

Of course, the back slope + thin white line tactics also have defects, mainly because the quality of the soldiers is very high.

The relative positions between the columns must be kept very precise. When facing the enemy's artillery and cavalry raids, they must be able to quickly use the back of the slope for cover and transform into a dense four-row horizontal formation.

If the soldiers are not well trained, they will soon disperse their formation without the enemy attacking.

However, the main force of the French army fighting in Mechelen at this time was the Royal 4th Infantry Division.

They have the best training level in Europe.

Even Joseph originally planned to let them practice the back slope + thin white line tactics for three weeks, but they mastered it in less than half a month.

In fact, from the beginning, there was no suspense about the outcome of the Mechelen offensive and defensive battle.

As the Karl Kreut Corps on the west retreated, the last bit of thought in the hearts of the British army in the middle also disappeared completely. The morale that had been beaten to the brink of collapse by the French army on the high ground was like a flood that broke through the dam.

General Harris did not even struggle, but ordered the Austrian skirmishers to cover the rear, and let the soldiers run down the slope.

At the same time, a drum sounded on the left wing of the French army.

Murat galloped over the highest point of the slope, drew out his saber, waved it majestically, and shouted: "In the name of the Crown Prince! Follow me!"

Behind him, three companies of hussars lined up in neat rows, shouting and rushing towards the chaotic British infantry.

Murat's face was still grayish yellow from a serious illness - he had suffered from severe dysentery before, and just recovered and returned to the team last week - but his spirit was extremely excited, waving his saber back and forth, bringing a puff of blood every time.

Because the Duke of York stretched the offensive front very wide, at this time the Austrian skirmishers could only cover the area of ​​hundreds of meters on the west side, and Murat's cavalry came and went freely on both sides of them, wantonly harvesting the lives of British soldiers.

In this way, less than 500 hussars drove tens of thousands of British infantry to run two kilometers away.

It was not until the British cavalry came to support that Murat retreated to the high ground under Lefebvre's order. After all, the main task of the French army this time was to hold on, and it was not advisable to pursue too deep.

But in less than 20 minutes, there were already thousands of British infantrymen who were killed by the French cavalry and trampled to death by each other.

The Duke of York was an excellent commander. He immediately mobilized Count Clefat's Austrian Corps to organize a defense line below the high ground, and pressed his guards up, which saved most of the fleeing soldiers.

After the coalition rested for two days, the Duke of York regrouped the army and launched an attack on the French position again.

It's not that he didn't want to bypass the French defense line. In fact, the terrain of the Southern Netherlands is flat, and Brussels can be reached from Gant or Diest.

But Brussels could be breached by the French at any time, which made him dare not take a detour and waste time, and he could only fight a decisive battle on the battlefield selected by Joseph.

This time, the Duke of York adjusted his tactics and concentrated all the cavalry to attack the French artillery positions. His own artillery took the opportunity to occupy a raised area on the east side of the slope and bombarded the French defense line there.

At the same time, the British and Austrian infantry attacked the top of the slope under the cover of artillery.

As for the Prussians, their morale has been low since the defeat three days ago, and they have no indomitable spirit of the Prussian army in the era of Frederick the Great, so the Duke of York can only let them be responsible for auxiliary work such as covering the two wings.

With the sound of low trumpets, more than 2,400 British and Austrian cavalry rushed to the French artillery positions from the east side of the slope.

No mistake, one shot, one content, one look!

The French artillery responded immediately, and shells kept hitting the coalition cavalry ranks accurately, tearing people and horses apart.

But under the strict order of the Duke of York, these cavalry could only continue to charge despite the terrifying artillery bombardment.

Soon, the British cavalry commander vaguely saw the thin white infantry formation in front of him, and he was immediately excited.

Exactly the same as what General Harris said, it was just two rows of loose horizontal columns, and it was impossible to stop him.

As long as they easily passed through the defense line of those infantry, the French artillery not far away would be lambs for them to slaughter!

But at this moment, the rhythm of the drums in the French position suddenly changed, and several horizontal columns in front of the artillery quickly changed their formations and gathered into a thick four-row linear formation.

The soldiers in the first two rows pointed their bayonets obliquely forward, and the soldiers in the back two rows raised their guns and aimed.

The whole process of changing the formation took only two or three minutes!

Facing such a "hedgehog formation", the coalition cavalry had to bypass it to both sides, but on both sides of this infantry line, there were two infantry horizontal columns responsible for cover, forming a flat "U" shape as a whole.

In fact, this is a variant of the hollow square formation. Since the Paris Police Academy, the hollow square formation has been one of the standard courses for infantry, and it is very handy to use.

Because the Allied cavalry had been climbing the slope and were already very slow when approaching the French defense line, there was no need to use a hollow square formation. This manpower-saving variant was enough to resist.

Sure enough, the Allied cavalry bypassed both sides of the defense line and showed signs of fatigue after being hit by several rounds of artillery shells.

Just as the Allied cavalry commander wanted to regroup his troops and try to attack again, thousands of American soldiers wearing gray-blue uniforms and flying the Stars and Stripes suddenly appeared on the east side of the slope.

These Americans were in a scattered formation and did not shoot, but just kept shouting and cursing at the Allied cavalry.